base and root share a recorded sense, so the question is not what they mean but which one fits. base means “installation from which a military force initiates operations”. root means “(botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground”. base is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈbeɪs/
1.n.installation from which a military force initiates operations
“the attack wiped out our forward bases”
2.n.lowest support of a structure
“it was built on a base of solid rock”
3.n.a place that the runner must touch before scoring
“he scrambled to get back to the bag”
| base | root | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbeɪs/ | /ˈɹut/ |
| Said | bays | root |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | noun, adjective, verb | noun, verb |
| Senses | 30 | 15 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | base of operations | none recorded |
Full entry for base · Full entry for root · More comparisons
/ˈɹut/
1.n.(botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground
2.n.the place where something begins, where it springs into being
“the Italian beginning of the Renaissance”
3.n.(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
“thematic vowels are part of the stem”